The Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, responded to the recent information about the number of Russian citizens crosiing into Georgia, and noted that it has actually reduced by 50% compared to 2019.
“In 2020-2021, due to the pandemic, the border was mostly closed. I will compare the similar periods of 2019 and 2022 and tell you, today this figure is 50% less than then. The increase in the number of cases of crossing the state border of Georgia by the citizens of the Russian Federation is observed from third countries, which followed the closure of airspace for the Russian Federation by various countries. Citizens of the Russian Federation, mainly ethnic North Caucasians, enter Georgia from the Republic of Turkey via the Sarpi checkpoint and return to Russia in transit via the Dariali border checkpoint,” Gomelauri said.
